Our school’s team spirit soared high today. After the London Marathon was cancelled in April, our Attendance Officer Mr Darren Willcock trained for an extra six months to bring him to today, when the official virtual London Marathon took place. Across the world, 45,000 runners ran their marathons their way. Mr Willcock did this with true style, by bringing our school community together to take part too. For his last 7 miles, he ran onto the school field. 60 students had signed up, plus a number of staff too. Students ran spaced out within their bubbles, along with Mr Willcock and a staff group leading the way.

There was true jubilance in the air as Mr Willcock crossed the finish line, with cheers and whoops from everybody there. Moments after his marathon was complete, Mr Willcock cheered on all of the students who ran a short distance behind, as they crossed the finish line. Once everyone had finished, he shouted out to us all “I could not have done that without all of you as well. We never do things by halves do we? Every one of you on this field now: we’ve done this together.”  He also made sure students had fruit and water. His sheer determination, coupled with his unwaivering care for the people around him is inspirational. We are incredibly lucky to know and work with him.

Mr Willcock was running in a charity place for the National Autistic Society, and has raised over £1,500 for them. Headteacher Mrs Scott-Herron commented: “Events like this are the true epitome of everything we stand for as a school. Hope, compassion and endurance are our values, and this is what has been shown today. To watch a member of the Boteler team achieve a lifetime goal is so emotional and heartwarming. It gives me inspiration.”

Mr Willcock said: “At the begining, I couldn’t even run a mile. And then I built up to 19 miles. And I never passed that until today. It just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it. Anything’s achievable. I’m proud that I’ve finished, but I’m even more proud of all the students that took part. I couldn’t have done it without their support. The staff and students were absolutely amazing. I’ve not done it; we’ve done it. And that’s what we do best at Boteler. We do things together.”

Our school’s team spirit soared high today. After the London Marathon was cancelled in April, our Attendance Officer Mr Darren Willcock trained for an extra six months to bring him to today, when the official virtual London Marathon took place. Across the world, 45,000 runners ran their marathons their way. Mr Willcock did this with true style, by bringing our school community together to take part too. For his last 7 miles, he ran onto the school field. 60 students had signed up, plus a number of staff too. Students ran spaced out within their bubbles, along with Mr Willcock and a staff group leading the way.

There was true jubilance in the air as Mr Willcock crossed the finish line, with cheers and whoops from everybody there. Moments after his marathon was complete, Mr Willcock cheered on all of the students who ran a short distance behind, as they crossed the finish line. Once everyone had finished, he shouted out to us all “I could not have done that without all of you as well. We never do things by halves do we? Every one of you on this field now: we’ve done this together.”  He also made sure students had fruit and water. His sheer determination, coupled with his unwaivering care for the people around him is inspirational. We are incredibly lucky to know and work with him.

Mr Willcock was running in a charity place for the National Autistic Society, and has raised over £1,500 for them. Headteacher Mrs Scott-Herron commented: “Events like this are the true epitome of everything we stand for as a school. Hope, compassion and endurance are our values, and this is what has been shown today. To watch a member of the Boteler team achieve a lifetime goal is so emotional and heartwarming. It gives me inspiration.”

Mr Willcock said: “At the begining, I couldn’t even run a mile. And then I built up to 19 miles. And I never passed that until today. It just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it. Anything’s achievable. I’m proud that I’ve finished, but I’m even more proud of all the students that took part. I couldn’t have done it without their support. The staff and students were absolutely amazing. I’ve not done it; we’ve done it. And that’s what we do best at Boteler. We do things together.”